Fatal Imprint
by VividInk
Summary: Nice, Black. Who taught you to kiss like that? Is it an inborn talent or did you practise with hard candy?" Imprinting can bring love and light to one’s life, but in the case of Leah Clearwater, it can kill too. BLACKWATER one-shot. Please R&R!


**Fatal Imprint**

Summary: _Imprinting can bring love and light to one's life, but in the case of Leah Clearwater, it can kill too. BLACKWATER one-shot!_

_**A/N: **_**My first Blackwater fanfiction in my entire history of writing fanfiction. I got sucked into the ****Twilight**** whirlpool thanks to my wonderful friends who simply could not fight the urge to argue about which teams they were on, and just ramble on and on about how hot Taylor Lautner and Rob Pattinson were. I've read the entire book series but only once, so if there are any errors to do with the characters' lives or situations, I apologise in advance. This is a rather dark and depressing (ooh, I like my alliteration :D) BLACKWATER one-shot so you might want to have a box of Kleenex handy if you're prone to the waterworks. Enjoy and oh please do review, feedback is really what keeps me going in the world of fanfiction. ENJOY FOLKS!**

**I focus a lot on Leah, her feelings, her insecurities and why she feels the way she does just to let you know. I really hope you guys don't find it boring or too slow moving. :P**

**P.S This story is set after Breaking Dawn but has references to the fourth book in it. The entire story takes place in a day by the way. **

_**Disclaimer:**_** Don't own so don't sue! Only the plot is my property!**

***BLACKWATER***

Leah's POV

The bathroom mirror was foggy again, just like it always was. Just like imprinting always happened. I swiped a hand over the vaporous glass surface until I cleared enough of the smog to see the broken image of myself reflected in the mirror. Hazel orbs stared right back at me. Eyes that once burned full of cynical vivacity and resentment now worn cold and empty by the harsh fate of my life.

_Oh pull yourself together, for fucks sake, Leah Clearwater. You're twenty-five-years-old, not some soppy teenager moping over true love lost._

But that was the problem see. I was a twenty-five-year-old stuck in the body of a nineteen-year-old who was human one minute and a pile of fur with four legs the next. A freak of nature; even to my own kind. The first female shape shifter ever in the Quileute history of the pack. Bloody brilliant.

Wrenching the towel from around my body I began to tug at my chocolate locks forcefully, pulling and scrunching in an attempt to dry them. There was a time when I thought imprinting was a whole load of bullshit, watching all the boys and their imprints frolic as though it was only the pair of them alone in this world. Ridiculous and obtuse, that was what imprinting was. Didn't any of those imprinted idiots realize that imprinting was just nature's callous way of snatching the rights of freedom and choice from their hands? Didn't they see how cruel imprinting really was? Obviously not.

_You saw their happiness though, their wholeness, their _love_. And you wanted it. Even now, they have everything that you don't._

Tears stung my eyes as my conscience mocked me endlessly, and the stabbing pains in my chest only worsened when I acknowledged that it was right.

I had seen Quil and Claire together, Jared and Kim, Paul and Rachel, Jacob and Renesmee and hell, I definitely saw Sam and Emily. How could I miss that particular pair? My first love and my best cousin; what a perfect recipe to inflict pain on my life. I had seen the way these couples kissed and cuddled (or just played in Quil and Claire's case), the way they held each other like they were each others' lives, but most of all I had seen their _love_, something which I now no longer possessed.

Of course, I still had my mother and my strange, constantly I'm-so-happy brother, Seth, they loved me and I knew that. But that was not the love I pined for, not the kind of love that would pull me out of my resentment.

_Stop harping and get on with it, woman. What happened after? You got your wish, didn't you? You imprinted. You fuckin' imprinted._

My hands flew to the sides of the bathroom sink as my knees buckled, a fresh wave of hurt washing over me like a tidal wave, threatening to consume me. I really got the wrong end of the stick in life. Fate seemed to love torturing me, throwing me around and shaking me about like a rag doll. In fact, I'm sure that was its number one hobby.

My words just came out as a hoarse and broken whisper, "Fuck you, Jacob Black, fuck you."

_What is it with you and wanting things or people you can't have, Leah Clearwater? First Sam Uley and now Jacob Black? Ok fine, so maybe Sam left you but Jacob? He's a taken man! _

I didn't realize at first that I'd imprinted. I had all along known that I'd be much happier in Jacob's pack rather than have to put up with being in Sam's head, vice versa and have to take orders from him. Things had definitely taken a turn for the better when I'd cut off ties with Sam and the rest of the boys and became Jacob's beta. Sure, we were running patrols mainly around the bloodsuckers' home and we were protecting whatever monstrosity that was growing inside Bella, but I'd felt a lot less hateful and more positive.

Back then I'd just put it down to the fact that I was now away from Sam and Emily, but the day the half-breed popped out of Bella was the day I'd realized I'd imprinted. And to be fair, Edward Cullen played a small part in opening my eyes to my imprinting.

_**Flashback**_

_Something was up. I knew it, I could feel the change. I felt incomplete for some reason, like some part of me had detached itself from the rest of my being and run off. It was a weird feeling and what annoyed the fuck out of me the most was the fact that I didn't know why. _

_Jacob hadn't phased since he had stepped across the threshold of the bloodsuckers' residence close to two days ago, he hadn't left their residence either. Seth had called to say that Bella was in labour, however, although if Mrs. Leech was still in labour now then hell, her mutant baby's head must be so damn massive it's obviously not fitting out the usual way._

"_Leah? Leah! Guess what?" Seth bounded up to me, excitement and glee scribbled all over his face. Geez, you'd think it was fucking Christmas day the way he was almost bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet._

_I didn't even bother turning to face him before the words slid glumly from my lips, "I don't know, hit me,"_

"_Jake imprinted! He imprinted on Ness- err I mean Renesmee!" he exclaimed, so animatedly that I half expected him to clap his hands in delight. He didn't even give me time to respond before saying, "You should come see her, Lee. Renesmee, Bella's baby, I mean. She's lovely and she looks like- Lee? Leah? Are you alright?"_

_My breathing hitched and my chest constricted suddenly. Jacob imprinted? On Edward-and-Bella spawn? I found it hard to breathe as the bile rose in my throat and I didn't know whether it was out of disgust or out of- of- ugh shit I don't know. Seth was by my side in an instant, his warm hand rubbing up and down my back as I clutched at my chest, frantically trying to relieve the constriction._

_After all those discussions I'd had with Jacob about how stupid imprinting was; after swearing that neither of us would ever want to imprint, the damn bastard imprinted. What a bloody hypocrite. _

_I felt as if an emotional breakdown was on the way. The last time I'd felt like this was when Sam had broken up with me to be with Emily. I couldn't put my finger on it but somehow I felt more upset than angry about Jacob imprinting. Suddenly, tears were cascading down my cheeks and I dealt a heavy blow to my chest with my right hand as I desperately attempted yet again to relieve the constriction. _

"_Leah? Heck, what's wrong?" Seth started off, "If this is about Jake imprinting, he didn't mean to. You know imprinting is involunt-"_

_Before he could finish, however, I was on my two feet bolting in the direction of the Cullens'. The familiar spasms rocked my body again and my two feet soon morphed into four as my pace increased. I felt Seth phase after me and it was a mere matter of seconds before he caught up._

"_Calm down, Lee. Don't do anything you'll regret!"_

_How I wanted to just scream at my brother, tell him that right then I felt as if someone had ripped a part of me out of my body, but my thoughts were just a myriad of confused flashes: Sam and Emily. Leaving Sam's pack. Bella Cullen. Dad. Mum. Jacob. JACOB._

_I slowed as the Cullens' mansion came into view and I phased back, tugging my shirt and shorts on, ignoring a wet patch on the side of my shirt that was drenched with my saliva whilst I'd been carrying it in-between my jaws as a wolf. _

_The front door opened and there stood Edward Cullen who greeted me with a frown, which I thought was strange compared to his usually pleasant and cool expression. I trudged past him into the house, not even bothering to congratulate him on being a father. Hell, I did not condone monsters breeding more monsters. _

_My eyes darted around the living room unfocusedly. The little fortune-teller or whatever it was she did was sitting at the dining table with her creepy husband, the big one was sitting on the sofa watching a game of football and his wife, super-blondie bitch was sitting beside him, seething silently at the person across from her in an armchair. Jacob._

"_Hey Lee, thanks for doing patrols for the past two days," Jacob said brightly, glancing up at me before returning his attention to the little bundle he was cradling in his arms; the bundle which my line of sight had not shifted from the moment I noticed it. _

_I knew Seth was around me somewhere, not daring to interfere in case I had some angry fit. _

_Edward Cullen was standing against the adjacent wall, surveying me silently, the same confused frown etched into his stone cold face. I briefly wondered where Bella was, and the answer came right from Edward himself, "I had to transform her. The transformation's still underway."_

_My heart was pounding in my still constricted chest and my breaths were coming out short and raspy. The frown on Edward's face deepened and his gaze shifted from me to Jacob and then to his mutant offspring, back to Jacob and then back at me again. What the fuck was up with him today?_

_I focused on the gurgling bundle in my Alpha's arms. A sharp stab of hurt shot through my chest as angry tears welled up in my eyes, so this thing was what Jacob imprinted on? This was the little _thing _that stole MY Jacob from me?_

_And then it hit me like a giant boulder. Fuck no. That explains the leech's weird stares. Hell I had not just imprinted on my Alpha, Jacob Black. No, I hadn't _just_ imprinted, I'd imprinted when I'd joined Jacob's pack! That was why I felt lighter when I'd joined Jacob, not because I was away from Sam, but because I fuckin' imprinted on Jacob Black! _

_I could hear the blood pounding in my ears as my brain struggled to make sense of it all. But in the end it still didn't make sense, if I had imprinted on Jacob then why had he imprinted on that _thing_?_

_Edward shifted and he murmured something so softly no one except a person who had super amplified hearing would have heard, "That's what I was just wondering."_

_**Flashback Ends**_

I smoothed my unruly half-dry hair through with my fingers and I took a quick peek into Seth's room as I passed and noticed it was vacant. Guessing where he was wasn't even an option in my mind as I knew exactly where he was. Jared and Paul were on patrol duty today, so needless to say Seth was probably at the Cullens'. When Jacob had imprinted on Renesmee the two wolf packs sort of reconciled. Jacob, Seth and I were still a pack of our own but we had made peace with Sam's pack and we co-operated whenever it came to emergencies or patrols.

My room was not your average woman's room. It was cluttered with clothes strewn everywhere, its dark blue walls were bare, no wallpaper, no posters. My dresser-top was littered with half-rolls of bandage, plasters and anti-septic cream, compared to the normal woman's make-up, perfume bottles and jewellery.

_Your femininity flew out the window the moment you started phasing. You've got no need for womanly stuff anymore. _

My gaze sunk to my feet and trailed up until I was looking at myself in my dresser top mirror again. You could hardly call me womanly. My legs were long but far from slender, instead they were muscular and lean, and so were my arms. My shoulders had also broadened considerably and I was definitely not average height for a woman at six foot one.

"I am beautiful no matter what they say," I sang huskily, my voice cracking in the middle as I felt a lump forming there again, "W-Words can't bring me d-down."

_He_ had made me feel beautiful once. Jacob. My Jacob. That one evening at twilight on the cliff's edge, my second day as part of Jacob's pack. That was the night imprinted on my Alpha.

_**Flashback**_

_Stupid fuckin' tears. Stop already! I stubbornly dragged the back of my hands across my face, irately wiping away the tears cascading down my smooth cheeks. Bloody Sam. Bloody Emily. Fuckin' imprinting! My long-term boyfriend left me for my cousin. His excuse? "I imprinted on her, Lee-Lee! I can't help that I did! I'm so sorry and you have to believe that I am!"_

"_LIKE FUCKIN' HELL YOU WERE SORRY, SAM! YOU DIDN'T EVEN FUCKIN' TRY TO FIGHT IT!" The scream tore from my lungs until my throat was sore and I couldn't help but be grateful to the setting sun for being my confidant. _

"_Whoa, hey!" _

_I jumped at the sudden intrusion and instinctually, I whirled around, my right fist extending out with the person's jaw as its intended destination. My fist landed square in Jacob Black's palm as he reflexively caught my punch before it did him any physical harm. _

"_Have you- Are you crying?" Jake asked, a hint of playful teasing apparent in his warm, husky voice._

_A growl of frustration escaped my lips, my words dripping with sarcasm as I tried to wrench my fist from his enclosed palm, "Ugh, no I'm not crying. My eyes are sweating. Fuck off Black!" For some unknown, and probably stupid, reason I felt embarrassed to be caught in tears by Jacob. I mean, he'd seen me naked before for goodness sake!_

_I strode several feet away and plopped myself down on a nearby hollow log, my head resting in my palms, which were resting on my knees. Determined not to let anymore tears fall, I fixed my eyes on the setting sun, unblinking, realizing after a moment what a stupid plan that was as my eyes were watering again within seconds. _

_Jacob emitted a tired sigh and sat down beside me, "You want to talk about it, Lee-lee?"_

_I scooted along the log away from him, "No and don't call me that,"_

_I could see in my peripheral vision the way Jacob's eyebrows rose in recognition before he nodded dimly, "Ah, so _that's_ what Miss I'm-so-damn-tough-I-don't-need-anyone Clearwater is moping about here,"_

_My right fist went shooting out toward him another time and yet again he caught it before it got anywhere near his face. _

"_Stop trying hit me, woman!" Jacob exclaimed aggravated, before he smirked and added, "'Cos you know I'll always block your blows anyway."_

"_You fuckin'-arrogant-son of a-" Each blow I aimed at him, whether it was his face or his chest, was expertly blocked with ease, much to my annoyance and frustration. In the end I settled with lunging at him and knocking him off the log and onto his back, my frame crumpling above his._

_Even though my wrists were enclosed in either of his hands I still flailed them wildly, screaming my frustrations aloud, "Fuck you! FUCK SAM! FUCK THE BLOODY WORLD! SOMEONE JUST COME AND FUCKIN' KILL ME ALREADY!"_

_I didn't have to feel the tears dripping off my chin to know that I was crying again. Sobs wracked my entire frame and I was oblivious, no doubt subconsciously appreciative, to the warm arms that were wrapping themselves around me and the hand that was gently leading my head into the crook of Jacob's neck._

"_Shhh, just let it all out, that's it. It's ok, it's ok." Jacob soothed, rubbing a firm hand up and down my back, "Believe it or not, Leah, but I know how you- how _this_ feels."_

_I snorted mentally, who knew Jacob Black was such a gentleman who knew how to handle crying women and emotional wrecks. And like hell he knew how I felt, his infatuation with that Bella girl was nothing compared to what Sam and I had had. _

_My sobs had mellowed, but I could still feel my chest heaving every now and then. As much as I hated to admit it, it was nice, this feeling. This feeling of being enveloped in Jacob's arms, my head resting slightly below his left shoulder, just where I could hear his heartbeat soothing my own broken heart. _

_A bit of my old self started creeping back into me and I bitterly mumbled, "D-Don't think this is g-going to be a regular t-thing, B-Black. I'm only using y-you as a punching bag a-and teddy-bear today b-because my brain is so f-fucked up at the m-moment it's not a-activating my l-limbs so I c-can get up and continue p-punching you." _

_A husky chuckle rumbled in his chest before escaping his lips, "You really are such a handful, Lee. Tough yet delicate at the same time,"_

_I shot upright at his last comment, "Delicate? How the hell am I delicate, Jake?"_

_My gaze caught his and something stirred inside my stomach, like a small flame burning and then steadily becoming a fire, warm and prickly along the skin of my abdomen. For the first time, I truly took the time to observe my Alpha's eyes, how they were almost black and bright like obsidian but had specks of brown in them. My gaze left his eyes, trailing along his nose, his jaw and halting at his lips. _

_I wasn't thinking about Sam anymore. Every thought or feeling about Sam and Emily had gone out the window the moment my eyes locked with Jacob's. _

_Jacob really wasn't bad looking- ok screw that, he was actually quite easy on the eyes, very handsome. Oh fuck I was getting all girly on my Alpha. This really wasn't heading in a good direction._

_Jacob bit his lower lip and extended a brave, but tentative, hand and cupped my cheek. His touch burned a little like little electrical shocks zinging through my cheek. My eyelids were drooping slowly and the space between our faces was lessening by the second. _

"_You're delicate, Leah, because your eyes are delicate; your nose is delicate, your features are delicate, beautiful, your lips-" He didn't get to complete his sentence because within the next second our lips had fused and a fluttering erupted in my belly like a thousand butterflies. _

_My fingers instinctively found his hair and began threading themselves through his silky locks. An involuntary moan bubbled up my throat as his tongue slipped into my mouth, tangoing with my own tongue. Clichéd as it sounds, but time seemed to have abandoned us at that moment. It was just me and Jake and nothing else and oh, how I relished it._

_A wolf howled in the distance and the intrusion slammed us back onto planet Earth, making both of us pull away, dreaded reality sinking back into our systems. _

_Embarrassed and slightly confused by what had just occurred, I used the best form of cover-up I could think of then: a witty remark, "Nice, Black. Who taught you to kiss like that? Is it an inborn talent or did you__ practise__ with hard candy?"_

_A bashful grin danced across his lips as a tinge of pink graced his cheeks, "Haha sure-sure Leah, real funny."_

_**Flashback Ends**_

I'd been smiling to myself the entire while reminiscing about that evening as I ran on four legs toward the Cullens' mansion. I didn't have to worry about either Seth or Jake hearing my thoughts then as I could sense I was a lone wolf. The bitter feelings and hurt began seeping back as the Cullens' home came into view and what I saw out on the front lawn made me feel sick to my stomach with grief.

Jacob and Renesmee embracing tightly and sharing a kiss, with the entire Cullen household positioned around them or on the porch, cheering and clapping jovially. Seth was present too and he was slapping Jacob on the back playfully.

I had a hunch as to what they were celebrating about and my heart sank a little at the thought. If my hunch was right then I knew it would crush whatever was left of my wounded heart. I phased behind a bush and threw my clothes on before making an appearance.

Seth noticed me first and jogged up to me, swinging an arm around my shoulders and looking so happy I swear he could light up a room with that smile of his.

"Lee, guess what? Our man Jake here just proposed to Nessie! We're going to have another wedding here soon!"

My expression remained stony as I erected as many emotional barriers as I could, "Oh, that's uh, t-that's great. Congratulations."

A million thoughts and questions were swirling around my head as I felt that familiar constriction in my chest again, only this time it felt like someone had stabbed a dagger through it and then squeezed really hard.

_Nessie, not me. He's going to marry her, not me, but she's only six… _

Yeah, she was six-years-old, but mentally and physically she was eighteen and much more beautiful than I ever was or could ever be. I knew I had no right to hate her, she didn't ask Jacob to imprint on her, but then again, how could I like her when she took _him_ away from me? _How_? They were getting married now. I was clean out of chances to fight for him. Hell, I really am delusional. I'd been clean out of chances the moment he imprinted on her. They were just making it official now and getting married to live happily ever after and have children. Me? I had no bloody idea what I was going to do with myself.

Edward was frowning that frown at me again. That same frown he'd given me the day Renesmee came into existence, only this time, sympathy was written all over his features.

A surge of anger coursed through me and I threw the most hateful glare I could muster at Renesmee. I half expected Jacob to put me in my place, but it wasn't him who spoke up.

"Hey _bitch_, I'm not all happy-go-lucky about my niece marrying doggy-boy either, but if you want to throw a bitch fit go do it elsewhere." Rosalie snapped, adding a little snarl at the end to prove her point. I winced slightly at her harsh words and took a step back.

If I had been feeling a little grander and more like the cocky girl I'd once been I would've come right back at the blond vampire and congratulated her on finally growing a brain and piecing together that I was a bitch: a female dog.

Seth did come to my rescue, albeit feebly, but I was appreciative nonetheless, "You have a point Rosalie, but I'd rather you didn't talk to my sister like that."

I glanced at Jacob and Renesmee, who seemed too caught up with each other to notice much else. Edward was still looking at me, his face now apologetic. Besides myself, Edward was the only one who knew of my imprinting on Jacob, why he still kept it to himself I didn't know. If I was him I'd have blabbed it to the world the moment I found out, but I appreciated his respect for my wish for it to remain private.

"No, you know what? I know when my presence is not wanted." I choked out softly, quickly trying to pass it off as a cough, "Bye."

Edward's POV

Leah's figure was a mere dot in the distance and she was definitely far out of earshot before I turned to Rosalie, sighed and said, "You really shouldn't have said that, Rose. You don't know what she's thinking, what she's feeling."

The she-wolf's thoughts were getting hazy now and I knew she was nearing the parameters of my mind-reading ability. If I thought that fate was unkind to me in that time span of nearly a century before Bella walked into my life, then I certainly underestimated fate itself, because what fate was doing with Leah Clearwater's life was tearing it into a million pieces, and then wringing the hope right out of each piece bit by bit. I had a troubled feeling that there weren't very many pieces left in Leah's life, and Jacob and Nessie's engagement had definitely squeezed the hope out of more than one piece of what was left of her.

***BLACKWATER***

Leah's POV

No one had stopped me from going. Not Seth. Not Edward. And definitely not Jacob. No one showed any concern or care that I was removing myself. I guess that was me, huh? Leah Clearwater, the evolutionary fluke who is doomed to be alone for the rest of her worthless life.

Every man who'd stolen my heart had stolen it and run off with it, leaving a gaping wound where my heart was supposed to be. Sam Uley; my first love and high school sweetheart. Jacob Black; my beautiful Alpha male who had swindled my heart from me with his annoyingly alluring charm. I half wondered if I was any better than those cold leeches back there. My heart no longer seemed a part of me and if it was it was probably dead. If I had no heart left, would that make me equal to being undead? I used to ponder whenever I was bored, if a person literally had a brain but no heart, or a heart but no brain, were they still alive technically?

The temperature seemed to have dropped around me suddenly and I felt chilled to the bone, a feeling I hadn't felt since becoming a wolf. I definitely hadn't missed it of course. My raised temperature definitely came in handy during the autumn and winter months.

The pain was worsening and my throat was starting to tighten now too. I hugged my knees to my chest as I sat on the log, the same log I'd been sitting on the day I imprinted. The log had been crushed on one side now and the wood I was sitting on seemed to be rotting away from being exposed for so long.

I shivered to myself and let the tears I'd been withholding flow freely down my face, running down my jaw and sliding off my chin. Every man I loved and got close to got taken away from me, even my dad, my wonderful dad. I always felt partly responsible for his death. Maybe if I had not become a wolf and shocked him so much by the fact that his _daughter_ had started phasing, he'd still be here with me, cradling me in his arms and telling me that no matter how small the light is at the end of the tunnel, or if you can't see it, always trust and believe that it's there. You just have to survive the journey to it.

"Why did you leave me Daddy? _Why_? I miss you so much," I sobbed, burying my face in my hands, which I realized were cold now too.

Come to think of it, I missed Jacob too. I missed the petty fights we used to have over the smallest of things like who annoyed each other more or who was wittier. I missed my Alpha, his grin, his voice, his scent. I missed that kiss we shared back then right here in the very spot I was sitting at. I wanted to be able to love him with all my heart and for him to love me back, yes I wanted him to love me back and reciprocate my feelings. And _if_ it had worked out between us, if Renesmee hadn't come into the picture, hell I would've done everything in my power to be a good wife and give him children. I would've even be Dr. Leech's lab rat if he'd find a way to help me bear offspring.

A roll of thunder sounded and the pitter-patter of raindrops soon filled my ears.

"Rain, wash away my pain, _please_. Just wash it all away." I whispered, looking up at the overcast sky and outstretching my arms, "Free me from my hurt, make me forget everything, _everyone_." I had become nothing but a hollow shell now with nothing to live for, sewn together but broken on the inside.

The rain intensified and from a drizzle became a downpour and I was now soaked to the bone and freezing cold, but what happened next shot such fear through me that I was sure it was the most frightened I had ever been in my life.

Brown, furry and absolutely huge, a grizzly bear came tearing out of the thicket from my left, roaring aggressively. Panic-stricken, I tried desperately to phase to defend myself, but I just panicked even more when I realized I couldn't. _I couldn't phase._ _Why?_

Frozen in pure terror I could only clamp my eyes shut as the bear charged and then pain, _just pure pain_.

***BLACKWATER***

Jacob's POV

Subtle, it was so subtle yet not subtle enough to go unnoticed. A dull ache, like a hollow emptiness in the pit of my stomach. Seth seemed to have sensed it too as he loped through the kitchen archway with anxiety written all over his features.

I saw the young Clearwater swallow hard, "Something's up, Jake. I don't know what it is but something's up."

"I know, I feel it too, Seth."

An awkward silence ensued but was broken not long after by Edward running down the stairs and wrenching open the front door. In the distance, I could make out the figures of four wolves running toward the mansion through the deluge of rain. It was all happening so quickly and before I could get up off the sofa, a drenched Sam Uley staggered into the house carrying the mangled body of a young woman, _Leah_.

My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach when I caught sight of my beta. She wasn't dea- No, she couldn't be. _What the hell had happened? _She looked different; her frame seemed so much smaller, more normal-sized.My shock seemed to be mirrored on Renesmee's face as we registered what was going on.

Seth let out a gut-wrenching cry, one that I was sure I'd never want to hear anyone emit ever again. It was a cry filled with pain and sorrow, the pain and sorrow of a brother seeing his sister on her deathbed.

"Carlisle!" Edward called hurriedly as he helped Sam position Leah on the couch.

"What the hell happened?!" I asked, finally finding enough energy and courage to speak.

"Jared and Paul… on patrol… found Leah mauled… grizzly bear-" A mixture of barely coherent words were spilling from Sam's mouth as he frantically tried to stump the blood-flow from Leah's wounds.

There was blood every where and I could hear Nessie whimper behind me and hear Carlisle rushing down the stairs, Esme and the rest of the family trailing hesitantly along behind.

"She was mauled by a grizzly? Why didn't she phase? Fight back? Defend herself," I questioned frantically, barely giving Sam or any of the other wolves time to answer before shooting another question, "Leah's strong she could've taken that grizzly easy-"

"I DON'T KNOW JACOB!" yelled Sam hysterically, tentatively leaving Leah's side so Carlisle could do his job.

My beta. Leah. I don't understand. Leah was strong. She never let anyone or anything bully her. No, she couldn't die, she just couldn't. Seth, her and I we were small enough a pack of three. Without her our trio would be down to two and I didn't think I'd ever be able to look Seth in the eye again knowing I was Alpha and I'd let our beta, his sister, die.

"Why isn't she healing? Can't you give her a transfusion, Carlisle?" Seth asked pleadingly, his eyes desperate.

Carlisle frowned and shook his head, "No, she's got too many serious injuries. The blood from a transfusion would just bleed right out of her again. I don't understand though, her organs are shutting down and her body does not seem to be fighting back or healing-"

Edward, however, interrupted his father. If vampires could cry real tears I'm sure Edward would've been crying, "That's another thing you should document in your history, Sam and Jacob, besides the fact that Leah is the first female shape shifter and that female shape shifters are possible," The room fell silent and all eyes turned to Edward for an explanation.

"What are you talking about?" I asked through gritted teeth.

Edward smiled a sad smile and looked back at Leah, "When an imprinter is rejected by their imprint they lose their shape shifting abilities and all other capabilities that come with it. She looks so much smaller because she's not a shape shifter anymore."

"You've got it all wrong leech, Leah never imprinted." Snarled Paul, Jared and Embry instinctively reaching out to hold him back.

My fists were clenched by my sides now, angry, furious. If Edward was speaking the truth then I was ready to hunt Leah's imprint down and kill him with my bare hands.

"But if she's not healing, then she'll die!" exclaimed Seth horrorstruck, "Carlisle, please! You've studied our kind before, you saved Jake after we fought the newborns! Carlisle you've got to do something!"

Carlisle looked both sorry and guilty at Seth's begging, knowing full well what Leah's probable fate would be, "Seth, I'm so sorry. Jacob's injuries were nowhere near as extensive as Leah's and he was also healing at a much quicker rate then. I'm really sorry, but there's nothing more that I can do for your sister."

Seth broke down into a series of hysterical sobs as he clutched Leah's hand to his cheek, whispering incoherently to her as he did so.

"Who did she imprint on? You would know wouldn't you? You can see into her head!" I spat venomously at Edward. I could feel Nessie squeezing my right forearm and projecting peaceful images into my head in an attempt to calm me.

I regretted asking him the moment his answer left his lips. An answer that would forever haunt me until I was in my grave.

"You, Jacob."

***BLACKWATER***

Leah's POV

I felt terrible for leaving them, Seth, my mother, _Jacob_. Now that he knew I knew he felt guilty and responsible for my death, and in a way he was, but it wasn't entirely his fault. Fate does things to people. Fate could make you lucky and have you win a million dollar jackpot and fate could screw you up entirely like what happened to me.

But I was almost free now. I could feel the peace and serenity washing over me. Hell, if this is what death felt like then I mentally punched myself for not succumbing to it sooner. I probably sound horribly ungrateful and self-centred, but when you experience such pain in the living world amongst everything else, the pain overwhelms you, it consumes you. And when you finally get used to it, it numbs you to every feelings whether good or bad.

The light at the tunnel was growing bigger and I didn't feel so cold anymore. Peace and serenity started to wash over me and my hurt and resentment began to seep away.

I could see a figure standing at the end of the tunnel, a figure I so very much missed and longed to see again. The light blinded me for a second and then I was standing there with my father and a woman I recognized to be Sarah Black, Jacob's mother. I threw myself into my father's arms and his familiar chuckle rang through my ears like a melodious tune.

I believed now. Everything would turn out ok in the end. Even if your life was hell on earth, when it was time for you to move on, everything would turn out alright.

I think I understood imprinting now too. Imprinting wasn't a generic thing like Sam had said or Jacob had said, about how imprinting was a way of finding a mate to have the strongest offspring with or a way of finding your soul mate and true love. Imprinting was specific to each person.

For me, imprinting was my way of finding peace, a means of escape from my pain and I suddenly realized that fate didn't really matter. It could take people on all sorts of journeys, up and down, left and right but in the end we'd all end up in the same place, where I, my father and Jacob's mother were. We'd all find the light at the end of the tunnel and we'd all meet again at the end.

***BLACKWATER***

_**A/N: THE END! Wow that's probably the longest one-shot I have ever written! I certainly very much enjoyed composing it and although it did bring me quite a few tears I hope that you readers have enjoyed it enough too and will reward my effort with some reviews sharing your opinions. So PLEASE REVIEW! Sorry for any typo-errors or any other errors. It's not beta-read and I tried to sift out all the typos but who knows, one sneaky one may have evaded me. Thanks for reading!**_


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